Espie and the Battle of Dreams (Espieseries 1)
by ScythanError
Summary: Espie was given a mission to travel to the Valley of Dreams one day. Following her are four other spirits, each with different skills and abilities. As they travel towards the valley, they are tasked with complications that they had to solve. After reaching the valley, they trained with masters before the final battle. Forgive the grammar mistake (Series originally from DeviantArt)
1. Chapter 1 (The Unusual Beginning)

**CHAPTER 1** **(The Unusual Beginning)**

 **A story would be told and remembered for centuries to come, upon this special spirit, the spirit that brought hope to Nibel and all around.**

 **It began on one of the typical spirit celebrations, the Light Ceremony, which reminds us of the beginnings of darkness, and the success of Ori's mission to bring back light into Nibel and create balance. One of the spirit leaves started to shake violently as though something had possessed it and changed its colour from a pale blue to a shade of golden yellow. It was a spirit leaf like no other.**

 **All the spirits, who were celebrating, was suddenly shocked at what was happening and stopped for a moment. They stared as the golden leaf drifted and fell down to the ground. After touching the ground, the golden leaf shone brightly turned into a light spirit. The spirit had two floppy ears, two ears that looked like horns and had paws. She had a small body and her fur was white with a sparkling tinge of a golden colour.**

 **When she opened her eyes, her eyes were gleaming a pale light blue, and surrounding her eye were faint golden lining. The spirits decided to name her Espe (pronounced "Asp") , meaning hope, to commemorate this day where there was still hope, even when darkness thrives around Nibel, when Ori brought back hope to the forest, restoring the lights.**

 **Espe was taken care of by the Elder Spirit Guardians who would meditate near the Spirit Tree as she thought that she was unique. She lived in a part of the village where she lived close to the Spirit Tree.**

 **She was also very friendly to other spirits who would visit and play with her. The spirits liked to play with Espie as she was caring whenever someone got hurt and loved to interact with spirits who were shy.**

 **Being well known all over the Spirit Tree village, she was nicknamed the "Golden Spirit" due to how she was born, and the golden lines on her forehead. Yet, Espe felt that she was an ordinary spirit as she did not develop any unique abilities like other youngling spirits did.**

 **While she played with other spirits, she got a nickname 'Espie' from her best friends, which was how they normally pronounced her name. She decided to get permission from the Elders to change her name. After she had been allowed, she became excited about her new name.**

 **They played around the Spirit Tree, playing games like the Light Orb Catch and Tag. To Espie, her life as a Light Spirit seemed quite ordinary, seeing no that she had not developed any special abilities over the years. However, her ordinary life was going to turn extraordinary.**

 **When the summer winds blew, Espie and her friends were playing a usual game of tag when the sky suddenly glowed. They were in awe as they looked up at the glowing light and saw a faint silhouette of the figure. This figure was an Elder Spirit that could fly.**

 **The spirit told Espie, "You must find the** **Valley of Dreams, the source of all the spiritual energy for Nibel and other regions,** **on the outskirts of Nibel for you to know better about the situation before darkness dawns on the next solar eclipse." After that, the spirit dropped a scroll in front of Espie.**

" **This would guide you there and the points you see on the map is the other spirit communities that you are going to pass by. For now, I'll leave it up to you for your adventure. I am Celestia and I will be at the Valley of Dreams, waiting for you. Farewell young one."**

 **In a sudden flash, the spirit disappeared and left the spirits all around stunned rooted for a moment.**

" **Hmm… I would need preparation before starting my long journey to the Valley of Dreams," Espie told all her friends, about it and started preparing. Some of her friends wanted to follow her and prepared themselves for the journey ahead.**


	2. CHAPTER 2 (Preparations for the Journey)

**CHAPTER 2** **(Preparations for the journey)**

 **Espie was curious about this place, this Valley of Dreams. Espie's curiosity led to her thinking about asking the Spirit Elders. Espie dashed towards the Spirit Tree, finding all seven of the Spirit Elders meditating around the tree. One of them noticed Espie heading towards them and asked while opening an eye "What is it Espie? Anything wrong?"**

 **Espie answered "There was a flying light spirit who asked me to go to the Valley of Dreams, her name is Celestia and she left me a scroll about tasks to help spirit communities on the way."**

 **The seven Spirit Elders were shocked to hear what Espie had to say and all had eyes popped wide open. "You know that's the other side of this world? The Valley of Dreams is where spirits go to acquire psychic abilities. Going there requires treacherous and gruelling months of travelling. Spirits who have gone out of Nibel, usually do not return as they either adapt to their preferred environment or perish fruitlessly, trying to find a home that is to their liking. If you're really thinking about going, go with your friends. It's better that way than you being all by yourself."**

 **Next, Espie climbed up the Spirit Tree to the top and found Ori talking to Sein. "Hey Ori! I read about your adventures and now I'm finally meeting you! And hey Sein, the one who helps to watch over Nibel! Anyways, what would you two advise me on venturing out of Nibel?"**

 **He answered "Just be careful of impending dangers and take care of yourself during the journey. In my youth, I had to cleanse poisonous blobs of blight everywhere and had to deal with monsters on the way everywhere with the abilities I got from absorbing light from Ancestral Trees. Although my journey was exhilarating yet exhausting, it was well worth doing my part to help sustain Nibel, but I'm not so sure about the outskirts."**

 **Sein added "After the days of decay, it seemed like Nibel has remained peaceful and harmonious throughout the years. I would not know what dangers will there be during your journey, but I can give you some of my light similar to what the Ancestral Trees gave to Ori, for you to defend yourself on the way since you do not have any special abilities. This would allow you to cast Spirit Flames unlimitedly, but you have to use them appropriately."**

 **Sein and the Spirit Tree glowed brilliantly like the sun and transferred some spirit light to Espie. Upon receiving the light, she stood with a stance and fired a Spirit Flame while shouting "heeyaah!" This shocked Ori and Sein for a while, then there was silence before a wave of laughter kicked in. Espie felt excited about the journey ahead, given the rare skill by them.**

 **After getting the powers, she thanked them and climbed down from the top of the Spirit Tree.**

 **Espie went to look for her friends going with her and assembled the group so that she could give out different items to each of her friends.**

 **They organised themselves and shared about each other's abilities before they started their preparations for the long journey ahead.**


	3. CHAPTER 3 (The Glacial Mountains)

**CHAPTER 3** **(The Glacial Mountains)**

 **Espie was given a nicely knitted sling bag made of Flax by Teva. Others had their own bags prepared already and were preparing other items they intend to carry with them. They all head towards the Spirit Tree to have blessings before moving on to getting supplies. After having blessed, they move on to getting fresh fruits and berries from fruit trees and berry shrubs. Next, they got robes and scarves for the freezing mountains they were going to pass by.**

 **Espie read from the scroll, "Glacial Mountains, head West through the Valley of Winds, Travel across the Forlorn Mountains and across the Forlorn Valley into the Glacial Mountains. So we would be heading to the Glacial Mountains first, my friends." Espie rolled back the scroll and lead her four friends through the lush forests of Nibel.**

 **Upon reaching the Valley of the Wind, they made themselves gliders out of big and long leaves. They glided through the afternoon below the Sorrow's Pass and into the Forlorn regions. As the five glided across the Forlorn regions, Kayne exclaimed "What a sight, the former living areas of the Gumon, The Forlorn Ruins." They glided on through the Forlorn Region, finally arriving and landing on the edge of the Glacial Mountains.**

 **The skies were splashed with a reddish-purple shimmer and there was a mix of blue and orange. Aura happily shouted "It's BEAUTIFUL! What nice shades of the skies." "We should make camp here, it's evening" Sven suggested, as he pulled out his spark rocks. Aura and Teva prepared a nice leafy sleeping area while Sven lighted the fire with nearby sticks and his spark rocks. Kayne went to help unpack for everyone while Espie went to look for more firewood. She looked for firewood on the ground, from small pieces to big pieces. Espie glanced across the cliff side of the Glacier Mountains and saw what seemed to be a village made of ice on top of one of the other mountains. Espie thought, 'we should get there tomorrow morning.'**

 **Espie brought back the firewood and placed it near the fire, for Sven's usage. "Took you long enough, it's cold up here" He uttered as he tended the small fire, having a lack of firewood. "Where have you been?" Espie answered excitedly "I saw the village that we would be going to. It looks like the spirits there made their homes out of snow and ice."**

" **We definitely need rest before continuing our journey there, us spirits can't go and help other spirits when we look totally tired." Teva yawned sleepily, dropping onto the leafy bed, making leafs fly about. The other four laughed before lying on the leafy bed of leaves and falling asleep.**

 **When dawn broke, they all awoke and wash their faces in the river nearby, cleaned all of their fur and packed their items, ready to go. "Are we all ready to fly?" Espie asked, just to confirm. After that, she signalled them to go towards the village.**

 **Upon reaching the village, they could not believe that it was freezing cold, so they put on their robes and scarves to keep themselves warm. They saw the resident spirits had no problems with the cold and did not have robes as they have adapted to the cold and have grown thick fur.**

 **They head towards the village chief's icy house and asked the chief for any problems with the village. He spoke with a deep and saddened voice "Yes, we do need help, a lot of help. Our village is always haunted by Dark Spirits, who would throw boulders or rocks to destroy our houses every now and then. We have to keep rebuilding if they stay here permanently. They are hidden at the adjacent plateau and in some cave. They only just came a few weeks ago. However, they already captured some of our villagers and stole some of our belongings during their first few attacks. If you want to help, please bring my villagers back and help to vanquish the Dark Spirits."**

 **The five move on towards the plateau where the Dark Spirits lived.**


	4. CHAPTER 4 (The Dark Spirits)

**CHAPTER 4** **(The Dark Spirits)**

 **Moving towards the plateau, Espie and her friends find themselves barricaded by a giant boulder. "Leave it to me!" Announced Sven as he showed off his muscles to a now unimpressed Espie. "Um, you definitely like to show off… Just do your job, and stop showing off. I'm not devoting myself into anyone so arrogant. Stop trying to impress me with your strength" Espie felt that Sven should stop showing off but rather help the group. Sven after hearing Espie, felt embarrassed but started to destroy the boulder.**

" **Why not glide towards the plateau?" Teva asked softly.**

" **If we want to sneak into the Dark Spirit Plateau, we must not be spotted. We, as light spirits would be spotted easily in the foggy Glacial Mountain range. Furthermore, they are able to throw boulders and rocks, so we would also be easy targets if we glide above them as they have ranged weapons, which is the reason why the village is constantly destroyed", replied Kayne with the logical reasons. With no other words spoken, they continued sneaking slowly into the plateau.**

 **Near the plateau, the group could see Dark Spirits loading catapults, preparing to attack the Glacial Mountain Village again. The group headed onto the plateau and started to launch an invasion, Sven quickly destroying the catapults using rocks, and combatting the Dark Spirits. Espie progressed to defeat the Dark Spirits. The other three who did not have much combat experiences found the cave where the village chief was talking about, which was just a crevasse in the mountain. The trio went ahead to help to free the kidnapped villagers from the cave and collect the village's belongings.**

 **While the three went into the cave, Espie and Sven fought the Dark Spirits. Espie shooting spirit flames at the Dark Spirits while Sven threw big rocks at them. Upon defeating most of the Dark Spirits, one of the Dark Spirits looked at both of them, warning them "this is not the last time you'll be seeing the Dark Spirits and this isn't over. You'll regret messing with us!" The lone Dark Spirit took off and flew away, disappearing in the blink of an eye.**

" **High paw!" Espie and Sven exclaimed while they looked at each other and high pawed. They felt that they did their part to help the village.**

 **~MEANWHILE~**

 **Upon reaching the end of the cave, the trio saw the villagers in cells, locked up like birds in cages. Kayne went forward and took his lock picking tools and began to unlock the cells swiftly, letting all the kidnapped villagers out. "Wow, I didn't know you could pick locks too! That's AMAZING!" exclaimed Aura. "Well that's one thing you don't know about me. I am more than just a planner. I have the wisdom of a wide range of skills. That's something that I…"**

" **Okay, I think we've had enough of your bragging, you're starting to sound like Sven and his pride. We should start going off now" Aura interrupted and continued "pick up all the village's belongings you can carry and go" The trio led the villagers out holding the village's belongings. Exiting the cave and saw both Espie and Sven, panting, exhausted by the hard fought battle. "Hey! Let's go! Return to the village, we're done here" The trio shouted.**

 **After reaching the village, the villagers returned back to their homes, the village chief thanked the group for helping the villagers and making the village peaceful again. The village chief made a feast to celebrate the liberation of the captured villagers. "Eat all you can, you deserve it for aiding us." The five dug into the food and drinks, enjoying the exotic tastes of the highland food, like the tangy fruit and berry juice popsicles and the rare Frost Spiked Rose tea.**

" **You can sleep here tonight before you move onto your journey." The chief suggested before leading them to a separate house made of ice where there were five beds, made out of a warm and comfy material.**

" **Wow, this ice house is amazing! What do you call it chief?" Aura asked in curiosity. "It's an igloo. Although it is totally made of ice, you will still feel warm inside. Anyways, sleep well and comfortably** **,** **you will need the energy to climb or glide down the mountain tomorrow for your journey. Good night all of you."**

" **Good night!"**

 **The five yawned tiredly before laying onto the comfy beds.**

 **The next morning, the five asked the village chief for directions to their next stop, thanked the village chief for the accommodations and made their way down the mountain. As they went down, they took off all of their robes and scarves, as it was not freezing anymore. "They have managed to adapt to the freezing temperature up there. Adaptation is so cool!" Espie Exclaimed. "Nope, just cold up there, not only cool." Kayne jokingly replying, making all of them laugh. They continued to move down to the edge and started to glide down to the foot of the mountain.**

 ***The five are headed for their next stop, what would they encounter during their journey? Find out in the next episode as the journey continues…***


	5. CHAPTER 5 (River of Life)

**CHAPTER 5** **(River of Life)**

 **While the five reached the foot of the mountain, Teva noticed Sven had a cut on his arm. Teva tapped Sven on his shoulder and said "You have been wounded, let me heal you." Teva took a leaf bandage that she prepared along with an herbal mix inside the jar. She applied the herbal mix on Sven's arm and wrapped it with the leaf bandage. "Thank you Teva, what would I do without you. This is nothing really, just a cut." Sven thanked her.**

 **Espie unrolled the scroll and read "The next location is Aquarius, the underwater town. We have to follow the River of Life to get there." "According to my map, we should reach the start of the river soon. It is quite nearby. I read about how it got its name from all the fruit trees and rare herbs there and how they could support life. Now life frolics here in abundance, and this river leads through the Valley of the Wind" Kayne followed up as Espie was talking about it.**

" **Here's the river, let's go and have a dip before continuing" announced Aura. They all left their bags on the side of the river and dived into the inviting crystal clear waters. They waded in the river, splashed at each other and played until evening. At night, they shook dry all of the water from their fur and slept on the ground near the river as they were too tired to create a leafy bed.**

 **As the morning came, Aura was awoke by sudden sense on someone spying on them. Aura whispered to Espie "I think someone is trailing us!" Aura and Espie woke the other three up and they all packed up swiftly, running away as fast as they could to escape the glares of the spy. Once they thought they were out of range, they slowed down and got a breather for a while. "I think that is the same Dark Spirit who escaped from the Glacial Mountains, Espie" mumbled Sven while panting from the exhaustion of running.**

 **They continued their way forward following the river that seemed to widen as they went on. Teva fascinated by the herbs, picked some on the way. Espie decided the group needed to restock their food supply after seeing Teva collecting herbs and went ahead to tell them to collect the fruits and berries, enough for their consumption.**

" **I feel a lot of life here, I think I want to take a look around for a moment." Aura informed the group, after sensing the aura of all the life force of the animals and spirits around. Aura checked around and found a fluffy brown bunny. She picked it up, making the bunny squirm vigorously in her paws, as though it wants to escape. Espie and Teva commented in unison "Aww! That's so cute!"**

 **After playing with the bunny for a while, they released it back into the forest and continuing their journey to Aquarius.**

 **Towards the end of the river, there was a gigantic lake with a floating island in the middle of the lake, there on the island were spirits and some houses surrounding a cave that seem to tunnel down. "That is the cave to lead to the city of Aquarius," Kayne stated.**

" **This should be Aquarius, we should probably go th…" "Welcome, are you coming to Aquarius, the town of the deep?" Espie was interrupted by a spirit.**

" **Yes we are, how do we get to the island? It seems too far to sw…" The spirit, filled with enthusiasm pulled Espie along to the edge of the lake where there were wooden boats while the four follow along closely behind. "What an eager little fella, let's catch up" Aura commented while running, attempting to catch up.**

 **The spirit led them into one of the boats and started to paddle along with another spirit. As they paddle, both asked, "why do you want to come here?" Espie answered, "we are going to Aquarius to help your kind, then we would continue on towards the Valley of Dreams."** **The two paddling spirits were immediately freaked out.**

 **One of paddling spirits replied with fear "t- there were some conflicts that brought some of our race up to the surface island. I- I don't think I should say more…" The five stopped asking and remained silent until they hit the island. Once they reached the island, the five waved goodbye and thanked the two spirit before proceeding towards the cave.**

" **That was strange. They seem to be afraid to talk about Aquarius. Something is wrong here" Espie notified the group. They passed by the lively houses and went into the cave passage to the suspiciously quiet City of Aquarius. "What happened here?" Teva questioned softly, feeling intuitive that something was wrong.**


	6. CHAPTER 6 (Aquarius)

**CHAPTER 6** **(Aquarius, the town of the deep)**

 **Upon reaching the town, they saw two separate sections of Aquarius, one town with air, one town underwater. The two towns seemed different. The one underwater was labelled as "aquatic" and the one filled with air labelled "lunged". There was no harmony between the water adapted spirits and the non-water adapted spirits. The whole Aquarius has been separated by the ability and inability to evolve gill for adaptation.**

" **Let's split up and go to both towns, Aura would come with me to the aquatic castle whereas for you three, Sven, Kayne, and Teva, go towards the 'lunged' town hall."**

 **Espie and Aura headed towards the "Aquatic" town while Sven, Kayne, and Teva headed towards the "Lunged" town.**

 **When Espie and Aura first arrived, they saw that the guards there did not like them coming as they had a fixated gaze on them. When one of the stout guards came towards them, they stopped dead. "Get out, this is not for you lunged spirits, it is only for the adaptive gilled people, the True Aquarians!" Aura sensing the rage, pulled Espie away and hid behind a rock far away from the gates. "These adaptive spirits really don't like the non-adapted spirits, it must be some kind of discrimination" commented Aura. "Alas, we must find a way to talk to the King of the True Aquarians." Looking at the castle at the centre of the Aquatic town and interpreting that their leader was a King.**

 **~MEANWHILE~**

 **Sven, Kayne, and Teva entered the "lunged" town without any problem with the guards. Furthermore, the guards welcomed them with open arms and said "Welcome to the town of the Land Spirits, where the spirits are not able to adapt to the waters, but we are still happy." Kayne politely requested "we would like an audience with your mayor to see what is going on around here." "Sure, I'll lead the way." The guard replied as they were escorted into the town.**

 **Once they reached the grand house, the trio walked towards the mayor. "Wow, what a big house! This looks like it is big enough for many spirits to live here. Ooh, a beautiful sparkling chandelier" Teva exclaimed in awe as she stared around the main room, finally staring at the brilliance of the crystal chandelier.**

 **The Mayor entered the main room filled, and questioned "Why are you three here? I have never seen you in my town before." Kayne politely replied "We are here to help solve the problem of the town separation. Can you tell us why Aquarius is split into two sections, lunged and aquatic?" The Mayor relates the time where the two were one when there was peace between the two races.**

" **You see, the now called True Aquarians think that we as Aquarian Land Spirits are lower life as we are not able to develop gills for prolonged water breathing. We Land Spirits are not able to adapt as easily as the True Aquarians and therefore looked down on us even if we are from the same Spirit Tree. We, the Land Spirits hope to reunite with the True Aquarians to become one united peaceful town of the True Aquarians."**

 **The Mayor paused and continued "They kept attacking us and demanding food and resource to build their empire ever since the new King ruled, and kept all the best resources for themselves. They also attacked us to make all of us leave. Some of the Land Spirits retaliated but they were beaten so badly that they refuge up there on the surface island, where you saw the village of the non-adaptive spirits while you were entering Aquarius. If they attack again, I do not think there would any peace between the two races anymore and wars would continue to rage on. For me, as Mayor of Aquarius, I don't have the political power to stop him from doing whatever the King pleases."**

 **~MEANWHILE~**

" **Let's sneak into the castle of the True Aquarians. We would go through pipe lines to the royal castle and talk to the King of the True Aquarians." Suggested Aura, sensing that the pipelines of the True Aquarians town lead to the castle. Espie and Aura quickly sneaked into one of the nearby open pipelines and got into the castle, right below the position of the King of the True Aquarians.**

 **When Espie and Aura emerged, the King ordered guards to imprison them. "WAIT! Please hear us out! We just need to ask you a few things!" The King stopped his guards and listened. "We just want to know why your race is more superior to the non-adaptive spirit and why you would attack the other part of town where the spirits cannot adapt live" Espie explained and questioned.**

 **The King thought for a while and answered "our kind is of a higher class because we can adapt whereas they can't. We, the True Aquarians, have developed gills to lengthen the time that we can breathe underwater while they only have lungs that only can take up to one day of breath, like you two spirits. We attacked them as they are just low life spirits of Aquarius and they should not live here as long as do not adapt. As King of Aquarius, I believe in purifying the town of all the non-adaptive and only let the adapted, like me, live here."**

" **But, your race and the other race should be together as one, not separate. Both the races originate from the Spirit Tree, it is only fair that they get treated equally." Aura replied.**

 **Espie continued "Both of your races, both settled down here as one before some of them adapted, why not continue to live as one race as you did before? You would have breathed air normally like what we breathe until you adapted. Stop all the brutality between the two races, start living in harmony. Live together and make your city a home for both lunged and gilled spirits, and reunite as one Aquarian people."**

 **The King thought deeply, feeling slightly guilty and ordered the guards to send a message to the Land Spirits town for an invite for the Mayor to visit the castle for a peace treaty.**

 **~MEANWHILE~**

" **Hey, isn't that a True Aquarians spirit? Oh, he has a message. Pass it to me." The Mayor pointed for Sven to get it for him. The Mayor took the message, and it was had written:**

 **To Mayor of the Aquarius, Leader of the Land Spirits:**

 **I have decided to make peace with the Land Spirits to make our two sections whole again and our two races back into one Aquarian town. We shall make peace and bring back equality. I apologize on behalf of all that the True Aquarians has done to you. Just one request: I want to recreate the city to make a more lunged and aquatic spirit friendly living environment, so that both parts of the city can bring accommodation to both types of spirits.**

 **Truthfully Sorry,**

 **King Marin of the Aquarius, Leader of the True Aquarians**

 **The Mayor escorted the trio to a water-way stream portal that to the castle of the True Aquarians. "Come with me you three, we will see the King of True Aquarians!" The Mayor entered first, while Sven was acting suspiciously anxious. "I don't like this…" Sven muttered. "What did you say?" "Nothing! I didn't say anything!" Kayne poked Sven, suspected something was wrong with him. Without further ado, the trio entered through the portal.**

 **Once they reached the castle the trio reunited with Espie and Aura while the Mayor and King have a discussion in the castle main room. The five wait outside while they sign the treaty and deal towards the city's reconstruction to accommodate the lunged and the gilled. "I am curious what they will say to each other having separated for years, having disputes" Kayne wondered.**

 **After a few minutes, the Mayor and King emerged with an agreement for each other's race to have access to equal resources and to the opposite towns. The King invited the Mayor and the five to stay in the castle for a few days, in the sleeping chambers filled with air, knowing they cannot breathe in water for more than a day, due to the lack of adaptation to the aquatic environment.**

" **Well, our tedious job is done, let's enjoy a few nights here to celebrate what we've manage to achieve here, peace." Espie declared.**

" **Yay! Royalty for a couple of days!" exclaimed Aura. During the few days, Espie and the others party and relax. They were also catered aquatic food for their meals which looked weird but was phenomenally scrumptious.**

 **On the last day, when the five were exiting Aquarius, they were chatting about the problems they face in both towns before the two towns reunified. The five waved goodbye to both Mayor and King of Aquarius and moved on towards the cavern passage to the island. "Next stop, the Valley of Dreams. But how are we going to traverse through the desert to get there? We do not have that much time to waste." questioned Espie curiously, and seriously.**

" **I have read about a shortcut passageway through a systems of whirlpools to get nearer to the valley, way pass the desert. Shall we take the shortcut?" Kayne suggested. Aura, Espie and Teva all nodded. However, Sven face started to turn into a pinkish glow. He murmured in embarrassment "I really can't. I have motion sickness and that is my only weakness." "So you do have a weakness! A tough spirit scared of a little ride! Ha ha ha!" Aura poked Sven. "Let's just go, we must make haste!" Espie stated.**

 **Kayne led them to the whirlpool portal where he had read about in the book. Sven shivering in fear, was persuaded and pushed through the portal, making him go first before the rest. "Onto the Valley of Dreams we go!" Espie said before entering the portal last.**


	7. CHAPTER 7 (To the Valley of Dreams)

**CHAPTER 7** **(To the Valley of Dreams)**

 **On exiting the whirlpool, they fell onto a field of a grassy flowery land. "Whew! That was one of the best traveling experiences that I have been through" commented Sven before he puked. The four uncontrollably laughed until they fell as it was one of the rare occasion that he would act and say something so hilarious. "So now do we want to take the short and dangerous path which would be another shortcut or the longer and safer path?" Kayne asked, undecided which path to go according to the map.**

" **I think we should be fine with the short dangerous path. C'mon, I mean, I'm not really scared of a bit of** _ **danger**_ **, I can endure things like that. Who's with me?" Sven declared confidently, repeating his bad habits of showing off his muscles. "Let's just find the quickest way, the eclipse is just a few weeks away, just stay together and do not wander off, if you need any help, just shout" Espie stated.**

" **The short dangerous path is called the Spiked Cavern Path, it is written on the book that this cave has poisonous thistles that would intoxicate all spirits badly, leading to a slow and painful death. It says that the flowers around here are the only antidotes of the poison." Kayne read out from the book, feeling unsure.**

" **Let me pick some of these antidote flowers from around here to create a cure so that in any case we are poisoned, we have the right medicine to cure it" Teva reassured while picking the flowers. After crushing the flowers and creating the medicine, she put the mixture in one of the medicinal jars she had and happily confirmed, "I'm done, let's go!"**

 **Upon reaching the tall, craggy mountains that blocked their way to the valley, Kayne asked insecurely "No second thoughts? We can always walk around the mountain" The other four nodded to proceed with the shortcut and the group continued their way into the Spiked Cavern Path. The cave was so dim that it appeared like a dark monster. When they entered, the cave did not seem so bad anymore as they lighted the caves with their lighted bodies. The tunnels seemed to move up and down, left and right, apparently endless. Finally, they reached the end of the cavern tunnel. Sven came out of the cave first and suddenly tripped, laying motionlessly, shocking the others.**

 **He laid in a tense posture and his face frozen in pain. Teva noticed one of the poison thistles had latched onto his fur and quickly took out her medicine jar. She then used a twig to remove the thorny thistle and used some of the antidote mixture to rub onto the wounded area. The rest of the three watch helplessly at them as they felt that they could not help.**

 **Sven's face slowly unfroze and he uttered "I feel like I'm the unlucky one in the group, always getting myself hurt or something…" "It's your pride that would get in your way, showing off as if you are the strongest of the group, start to be more humble." Aura nagged at Sven, embarrassing him even more.**

 **After the whole circumstance of the situation, the group continued on and arrived at the Valley of Dreams. It was dusk and they decided to stay over at one of the nearby houses that the some of the spirits are living in.**

 **Espie requested to one of the villagers "We would like to stay over just for the night in your house, we travelled far from the Spirit Tree, and we would need accommodation for the night."**

" **It'll be my pleasure to let you stay here, Espie. Your friends can come along too!" answered the villager with a smile. "How did you kn…" "Who wouldn't? You are the Golden Spirit of the Spirit Tree, everyone knows about you. You are one of my biggest favourite spirits around here. Your birth was a big happening that spread all over Nibel and here. It is a big pleasure to meet you, you and your friends are welcome around this village. Make yourself at home."**

 **The villager paused and continued "I've already heard from other spirits that your group helped the Glacial Village and Aquarius. Just take it easy for tonight. Relax your tired legs and have some tea and fruits, replenish your energies for tomorrow" the villager invited while going to prepare them. The five dug into the fruits and drank the warm flavourful tea, and went to sleep on the grassy beds provided for them. They quickly fell asleep as it was very comfortable.**

 **The next morning, the group thanked the villagers and waved goodbye, going on their way to meet with the wisest spirits in the village. Espie saw Celestia, the Elder Spirit she had met earlier before the trip. Espie rushed over to Celestia and passed her the scroll. "I have helped the spirits in need of help, and I have finally came here" Espie reported to her.**

 **Celestia, looking impressed, told Espie "We would begin training preparations three days later, meanwhile, you can stay at the Dream Sanctuary just beside the Dream Lights of the Dream Mountain beside. As you know this is the Valley of Dreams as this valley is located just beside. There, I will assign some of the Elder Spirits to pass down their wisdom to all of you and your friends to enhance their abilities. For you, I would be your teacher to enhance your unique powers, I've heard you have."**

" **Wait Celestia, why is this valley called the Valley of Dreams? And why dreams of all things?" Espie questioned curiously.**

" **Well, the Valley of Dreams is named after the Dream Mountain just beside. The Dream Lights that you see emanates from the Dream Stone on the summit of Dream Mountain. These Lights is said to bring psychic ability to spirits and give pleasant dreams when the resident spirits here sleep, so there's your reason. This valley is the root of Nibellion psychic abilities." Celestia answered before leading them to the Dream Sanctuary.**

 **The group followed Celestia towards the Dream Sanctuary. Once they reached there, Celestia assigned the different beds and area they would be sleeping in. "Spirit Elder Celestia, why can't we train today? I mean, we only have a couple of weeks left." Kayne queried after much thought. "Patience Kayne, we, the Elder Spirits, have to plan on each and every one of your ability enhancements and ability mastery. Give us time, we will come when we are ready. Why don't you take a tour with your friends around the town? I've got to go. See you all in three days."**

 **The five, after unpacking their items to the designated areas, went on to wander around the town. Throughout the three days, all five of them lost track of time and felt that the three days went past swiftly. It was time for the Elder Masters to teach them about their own abilities.**

 **Celestia came towards Espie and assured, "Your friends would be in good paws, although they and the elders are going separate ways for a while, you will still be connected through your friendships." Celestia paused and allocated different Elder Sprits to each one of them "Espie, come with me. For Aura, your teacher is Misty, for enhancing your powers of sensory. Sven, you are with Cahal the strong for strength training, Kayne with Hugo the intelligent for wisdom and Teva with Kezia the nature herbalist." She assigned each Elder to each of Espie's friends.**

" **Since you're here, you five have to adhere to the culture here. Each of you have to learn at least the psychic flying abilities that most spirits here have. The rest of the psychic abilities the masters will teach will be based on each of your original abilities. With that said, let us be on our way."**

 **The five pairs proceeded to their training with each of their individual masters.**


	8. CHAPTER 8 (Enhancing Abilities)

**CHAPTER 8** **(Enhancing Abilities)**

 **The five were divided, following each of their Elders to different paths in the split road. "This is where you will say goodbye and where you would reunite after the training days of ability mastery." Celestia stated before the five waved goodbye, moving to different paths.**

 **CHAPTER 8.1** **(Aura's Sensory Upgrade)**

 **Misty and Aura moved on their way towards the forests near the Dream Mountain. "Aura, this would be a twenty-day enhancements of your power. Remember, a week after this twenty days, is the fated eclipse battle of Light and Dark Spirits, which requires spirits like you of different talents to help aid in the battlefield, the Valley of Dreams" Misty informed Aura. Aura nodded in comprehension.**

 **They started the training at a riverside close to a waterfall and near fruit trees and berry shrubs. "This is where you will do all of your training, there is nearby food and water supplies. The forest is just close by, we would go there for some time later in your training" stated Misty, adding "Firstly, we shall meditate in the serene surroundings of the area. Notice all sound around you, visualise your surrounding according to each sound. I know you can sense aura already and would think that this is basic for you. I sensed that you were born with aura-sensing abilities and was named after it. But, a good foundation, this basic training, is the building block of becoming stronger."**

 **Leading the way, Misty took Aura towards the waterfalls, stopping on a dry flat rock just a few metres away from the raging waters. "Misty, what about you? I am curious how you got your name." This question stopped Misty in her tracks, blasting her into a flashback of thoughts.**

" **Oh… Well, my past was not bright at all. I was born lonely far away from the Spirit Tree, similar to Ori's own tales. However, while trying to find my way to light, I brought darkness to myself, as I was taken in by Dark Spirits. They named me Misty as my future was so fogged they could not read it for me. They thought me dark abilities and corrupted me. Even with my corrupted light, I still persevered and defeated the darkness inside of me. But alas, I had destroyed communities before and still could not forgive myself for it." Misty starting to tear, tackled by the regrets of the past.**

 **Wiping of her tears, she bravely continued "After the purification of myself, I discovered that I have gained several dark abilities other than my aura sensing-ability during my time of darkness, like the powers of mind-control and other telepathic attacks. While enlightening myself, I arrived at the Valley of Dreams where I settled down and trained with the previous elders. This is where I felt my skills were used for good, teaching spirits like you, to defend the mountain." Misty stopped and helped Aura climb up the rocks beside the waterfall onto a flat surface shaded by nearby trees.**

 **Both Elder and Apprentice crossed their legs and started to meditate for hours. A few hours later, they opened their eyes, Aura managing to do visualisation. After completing the first stage, Misty advised Aura "If you want to learn mind-control and telepathic attacks, you first have to separate your thoughts from the sound around you. Once you are able to do both, I would also teach you how to levitate, using only your mind." Aura looked amazed and eager to learn all the skills of the Elder.**

 **Guiding Aura in each and every step of the mental abilities, Aura learned both the skilled in just a couple of days. Practicing to use mind control on small animals, Aura felt a little guilty as she was experimenting on these poor animals. Misty reading Aura's mind, she told Aura "you are not vanquishing the animals or torturing them, it's just hypnosis. Just think of it like a practice of the dark abilities. It is okay if you feel like that, as it originates from Dark Spirits. It's your sympathy about them that makes you feel this way" Aura did not think about it further after what Misty said.**

 **When Aura finished learning the unique skills from her and enhancement of her own abilities, Misty started to teach Aura, psychic flight for her convenience and faster mobility.**

 **Aura, in the midst of learning psychic flight, asked why she should learn the skill. "It's for us as Light Spirits to move faster so that we can match the powers of the Dark Spirits, who could already fly. You are able to fly like a bird after this to move fast around the battlefield. All your friends would be learning it too, so that they can target flying Dark Spirits with their own abilities or to assist other spirits faster than sprinting all around." Misty answered with experience from past attacks. "That's why we prepare spirits battling with the ability of psychic flight."**

 **At the end of the twenty-day training, they moved back to the Dream Sanctuary, reuniting with their friends.**

 **CHAPTER 8.2** **(Sven's Strength Training)**

 **Cahal and Sven went through some bushes ending up near a small lake and a rocky hill with huge orangey-brown rocks. "Now that we're here, why don't we go for a dip before we start?" Cahal suggested. Sven shocked by the suggestion, added "REALLY? ARE YOU SERIOUS? COOL!"**

 **Both jumped into the lake and enjoyed the welcoming waters. "Ye know, the others are not relaxing before training? Well, this is the good thing about learning under me. I'm going to train you on ye strength and endurance after this, which would be strenuous." After giving a clue about what they were going to do next, the two splashed their day away. In the evening after shaking dry all of their fur, both lay down and had a nice rest before the next morning.**

" **It's time to wake up and get working!" commanded Cahal, slapping Sven awake. "Get up ye soldier! March to the rocky hill just a hundred metres away." Sven, feeling pressured and annoyed without a doubt, jump started from a lying position to a saluting position in time of a second. "Yes, Cahal!" "Call me 'sir', IS THAT OK?" demanded Cahal, screaming his lungs. Sven, nodded and started marching. "First thing a soldier has to be is tough in physical strength and endurance."**

 **Cahal led Sven in front of a cliff wall and positioned him. Cahal started throwing stones at the now defensive Sven who was redirecting or breaking the stones using his Bash attack, started increasing difficulty as the size of the stones become bigger and bigger, from stones to rocks to even boulders. Seeing that Sven can overcome physical tortures, Cahal planned for the next few days to train Sven on other aspects of strength training.**

" **I'm not weak. See? I have muscles" bragged Sven, showing off his muscles, forgetting to change his habit. Cahal, annoyed at his pride, threw a rock at him, knocking him out. "Hmm, this lil' spirit thinks he's so great but his pride leads him to flaws. I guess I better work on that." Cahal muttered while carrying Sven's body down from the hill back to the camp, placing him onto the ground.**

 **The next morning, Cahal grabbed a cup of cold freezing water from the river and splashed it all over Sven's face. "Arrgh!" Sven jolting awake by the sudden splash in his face." "It's time to continue your training of strength and endurance for the next few days! C'mon, we don't have all day!" Cahal commanded.**

 **Sven, after abruptly woken up, followed Cahal and started doing training on strength, lifting up bigger and bigger boulders, becoming stronger. Cahal also continued to train his endurance by throwing rocks at him to deflect or destroy by any means of his abilities.**

 **The next few days were exhausting, but Sven managed to move past them. Cahal, being instructed to teach Sven the ability of psychic flight, started to teach Sven how to use psychic powers for flying and how it can increase mobility. When Sven finished learning the new skill, he asked Cahal why he needs to learn the skill. "It's for ye own good and to match up with the flying abilities of the Dark Spirits. That's what she said." Cahal spoke in an imitative voice of Celestia, making the conversation feel slightly awkward and silent, then a wave of laughter came shortly.**

" **But seriously, you can carry the rocks in mid-air to get a hit on those lil' Dark devils. Celestia requested me to teach ye before the war." Cahal's expression changed abruptly.**

 **After finishing the course of learning, Cahal and Sven headed back to the sanctuary, Sven uttering on the way "Not worth it!"**

 **CHAPTER 8.3** **(A Wiser Kayne)**

 **Hugo led Kayne down into a series of cave tunnels, lighted by glow rocks. At the end of the tunnel was a secret library, a small flowing creek and a few fruit and berry plants on the other side of the creek. "What a beauty, right? Underground library with a food supply, and it's naturally lighted by the glowy crystal rocks. Here, the Wizard Chambers is where we would meet to plan our battle strategy for our battle. Now I will start by giving you a quiz about Nibel's Days of Decay, which would test what you have learned about while you were in Nibel." Hugo placed a paper with only question numbers labelled 1 to 5 and lines on it along with some ink and quill.**

" **First question, what is the order that Ori restored each of the elements? Moving on, the second question, why did Kuro attack the spirit tree? Third question, why did the forest go blind? Fourth question, what is the name of the other two that followed Ori? Fifth question, why did Kuro decide to suddenly help to restore the Spirit Tree?" Hugo quizzed Kayne, giving only brief moments for Kayne to write down the answers. After finishing, Kayne passed the paper, ink, and quill back to Hugo.**

 **Hugo then took out his red ink bottle and a separate quill and started marking while reading the answers almost inaudibly. "First question, Water wind, and warmth. Second question, for revenge as her chicks were killed by the light of the Spirt Tree. Third question, Sein was ripped from the Spirit Tree, previously being the Light and Eyes of the forest. Fourth question, Naru and Gumo. Fifth question, Kuro realised that her nest with her last egg was going to be burnt if she did not save Nibel, and realised a motherly love between Naru and Ori which she once felt. Hmm…" Hugo paused before continuing, "Full marks Kayne!"**

" **Hugo, I don't think you should read the answers out where I can hear them when you are marking. It's very obvious." Kayne suggested.**

" **Oh, I see. Anyways, now I will move on to teaching you about telekinesis and psychic flight. Now, I think I'm going to teach you, but I don't have much teaching experience, due to the lack of super-intelligence spirits that learn under me, a spirit such as yourself. Bear with my type of teaching."**

 **Hugo started by taking books about telekinesis and spoke "These books contain more information about telekinesis. During the times where I am busy, you can read up on it. But, now, I would teach you both skills. If you are wondering why you need psychic flying skills, it's because of the Dark Spirits. They all gained a flight levitation ability from their leader nicknamed 'the Shadow'. Celestia instructed me to teach this in addition of telekinesis. Anyway, let's start immediately!"**

 **Hugo started to teach Kayne telekinesis, guiding him during the training. After guiding Kayne to learn telekinesis, Hugo told him the skill's importance during the battle "You'll need this for combat other than your intelligence when you're in battle, this skill would allow you to move objects to smash at the Dark Spirits. Start by moving a few stones."**

 **Kayne tried, but to no avail. "Feel the energy in the stones, they are the same as the energy in you. After you have done that, mentally order the stones to move in a direction."**

 **Right after Hugo gave Kayne the tip, he started moving the rocks slowly, and then shooting them in a direction. "Good, but I will start practicing with you. I have a tight schedule, I will teach you in the afternoon but I will be busy at night. Read the books for more guidance if you need when practicing at night." Hugo said before continue to guide Kayne.**

 **Finishing the learning process of telekinesis in just a few days, Hugo taught Kayne psychic flight, preparing to match the flying speeds of the Dark Spirits.**

 **Learning the skill in one afternoon, they planned to relax on that night.**

" **Hey Kayne,** **it's the Spirt Comet IX night tonight. Do you want to watch the comet tonight?" "Sure, since I need a break from practicing my new abilities." Kayne and Hugo chatted before planning for one of the nights.**

 **On that night, Hugo and Kayne came out of the cave tunnels and found a comfortable place on the grassy terrain. Both lay on the grass, perpendicularly positioned to each other. "Look, that's the Spirit Comet IX!" exclaimed Hugo, "the brilliant array of colours only comes every ten years. Enjoy it while you can!" Hugo started pointing at the comet and the accompanying shooting stars, making Kayne very amazed at the sight.**

 **For the next few days after the comet, Hugo decided to 'have fun' with Kayne.**

 **The next days was strenuous, practicing telekinetic spells on a higher level. After Kayne finished training with Hugo, Hugo told him "You have gotten better than me, you are more talented than I anticipated, learning the skills faster than me. Good job on mastering those skills, which took me years to master… Well, now it's time for us to return, let's be on our way."**

 **They went on their return journey, back to the sanctuary.**

 **CHAPTER 8.4** **(Teva, the Herbal Healer)**

 **Teva and Kezia walk a path that led them to the Dream Forests, just at the foot of Dream Mountain. They saw Espie and Celestia walk the other way, onto the mountains. Teva of Kezia waved to them before continuing to go a separate path further into the forest. They walked until they saw a hut, made of clay bricks and wood. "This is where I stay, study and make all my herbal medicine. Welcome to my home." Introduced Kezia.**

" **Teva, would you mind grabbing a few herbs and jars for me? I'm going to teach you herbalism and going to bring your skills to the next level. I will need…" Kezia started to list down every single detail and Teva frantically finding all the herbs and jars, finally ready to begin.**

 **Teva questioned Kezia "Why do I need to learn all of this again? I know about all of this…" "Patience my dear youngling, patience is the key to learning." Kezia interrupted. "First, we start with the basics then we will progress to Medicinal Healing, is that fine dear?" Teva started to pout and started to create all the herbal combinations that Kezia requested. "Done! Let's go next." Teva was being very enthusiastic about moving on, but oblivious to her is that she didn't check her combinations after completion, leading to several mistakes.**

" **Not quite my dear, you missed out this, this, this and this…" Kezia started to point out all the steps she didn't do. After pointing out her mistakes, Teva redid the whole process, finally succeeding to mix the right herbs properly. Kezia checked and then kept all the mixtures in one of the storing cupboards that she had and told Teva that they are moving on to Medicinal Healing.**

 **Kezia giving a lesson to Teva, stating "I know that you have a wide knowledge of plants and herbs, but I don't think you have read or heard about the Spirit Blossom, have you? I have it right here, it is rare but it has very good healing properties far beyond any herbs. Just add this into any combination and even the 'lethalest' of all problems would be solved, no problem!" Teva feeling astounded was more intrigued into learning from her.**

" **However, it is very hard to find around here. Try to find it on the cliff face of Dream Mountain, there is bound to be a few of these there. This would be your first test." Kezia instructed to Teva, testing her on collecting the herbs.**

 **Teva climbed the precarious walls of Dream Mountain and finally got hold of the rare Spirit Blossom herbs, returning back to the hut. Upon reaching the hut, Kezia identified the herbs and took them from Teva. "Well done dear! Now let's learn about the other rare herbs of healing." Kezia spoke while lifting a book of herbs that she was going to go through with Teva.**

 **During the time of a few days, Teva was taught about all the herbs and their properties and felt that Teva was ready to learn Spirit Healing.**

" **Teva, I am going to teach you Spirit Healing, which can heal wounds in a jiffy. I will guide you on each stage until you are ready." Kezia guided Teva in each step, following up to the success of learning. After mastering Spirit Healing, Kezia created a problem to test Teva's healing abilities. Kezia purposely cut herself and told Teva to heal her. In a matter of seconds, Kezia's wound disappeared.**

 **Kezia commented "Well done work. I will teach you psychic flight. This would allow you to fly towards the injured swiftly enough to heal them. Your friends would be learning it too for quicker movement around the battlefield to match the flying speeds of the Dark Spirits. If you don't learn this, you might be outmatched by the flying abilities of the Dark Spirits. Furthermore, it is made compulsory by Celestia for me to teach you this skill. Do you understand why you need this skill?"**

 **Teva nodded.**

 **A few days later, after practicing the additional skills, Kezia said "you're ready, you're ready to heal and help the injured of the battle. I wish you the best of luck. I will be staying here to make more medicine for the battle during the eclipse. Go on back to the sanctuary and meet up with your friends. They will be there. When you return, tell Celestia not to worry about me and tell her I will be ready three days before the eclipse."**

 **Teva hugged and thanked Kezia and rushed back to the sanctuary, bumping into Espie and Celestia on the way. "Race you!" Espie challenged and both returned back to the sanctuary in record time.**

 **CHAPTER 8.5** **(Espie, the Great Esper)**

 **Celestia led Espie onto a mountain path. "You don't know it, but your training would be more gruelling than the rest, but well worth it. Climb to the summit and I will meet you there. It will be a two-day trip, rest well and have sufficient food. I'm going first." Celestia disappeared in a flash, similarly to the situation that Espie faced earlier before she started the journey to the valley. "Talk about Déjà vu." Espie uttered to herself.**

 **Upon reaching the Dream Mountain Summit, Espie saw Celestia, sitting quietly, meditating.**

 **Opening her eyes sensing Espie, she told her "you've finally Dream Lights, which I told you about at the sanctuary, is a beam of pure Dream Energy that is emitted Dream stone. Dream Energy, is a pure energy form that is either a positive or a negative energy, depending who controls the stone. This is the most powerful energies that have capabilities of mass annihilation in the wrong paws. That's why I have been protecting this stone, anticipating the dangers upon it. Back to the training, I would be teaching you how to control your one-of-kind powers that only a few has ever used, the Spirit Flame and psychic abilities which I teach only a few, including the necessary psychic flight spell. You shall be a great esper like me."**

" **Master, what's an Esper?"**

" **Oh? You really don't know? Spirits who have mastered psychic abilities are called espers. Esper basically mean that you have extra-sensory abilities. So now you get it?"**

 **Espie nodded before they moved on to their lessons.**

" **Firstly, the harnessing of the ability of Spirit Flame has only been done for four spirits, me, you, Ori while with Sein and the Lord of Darkness, the one they call the Shadow, one of the strongest spirit energy wielders in the whole world. The Shadow, by chance, managed to morph into a light spirit to request for the power, got hold of it and then tried to destroy the lights of Nibel and other regions. He was later stopped and sealed up, but now I sense that he has broken from the chains of light and is coming to corrupt the Dream Stone. He would be the one you are facing. You would need to be ready by the time his arrives or it will be the cataclysmic destruction of all life on the world with untold powers."**

" **That's why you called me here, right?" Espie realising the purpose of this quest. "We must make haste, the end of the world is coming upon us if nothing is done." Celestia hurriedly spoke, fearing for the future. "First, the understanding of the Spirit Flame. Utilizing light energy to burn and inflict damage on enemies, is a strong power to behold. But upon harnessing pure energy would allow you to surpass even the impossible. I will demonstrate on the boulder in front of me. Stand back!" Celestia took in a deep breath before focusing all her energy into one ball of intense energy, then hurled at towards the boulder. The boulder, being hit by the power of the energy, broke into small fragments and sand, making dangerous projectiles for both of them, just whizzing past them. It was as though the boulder disappeared.**

" **Whoa! That is awesome. With that power, I don't think 'the Shadow' would come to dominate the light of the Dream Stone" Espie eagerly anticipating the lessons. Celestia stated "You'll have to learn psychic flight first, which is the skill where most Elders teach last, this would allow you to fly and catch up to the Dark Spirits, who can already fly. After you can master using the pure energy, you are able to fly much faster speeds to outmatch the flying speeds of the Dark Spirits. Your friends are learning this skill already, I highly recommend you learn it."**

 **With no or little effort, Espie learned psychic flight in a day. The next day, Celestia taught Espie "Next, the enhancement of your Spirit Flame to Energy Blasts. Imagine all the spirit energy channelling around yourself every time you use a Spirit Flame. Instead of separating the energy in your body to use the Spirit Flame skill, you should focus all the energy in your body as one. The separation of energy is an illusion. The trees, spirits and all life on the world are all connected and are one. Do not let the beliefs of separation weaken your power. Even the City of Aquarius is also one, although there are two sections. Practice focusing all your energy as one to enhance your powers."**

 **Celestia led Espie through a whole day of lessons on controlling energy, then left her to practice alone while she went to collect some of the supplies from down the mountain. When Celestia returned, it was already dusk. The two chatted and ate, happily sitting on the cliff edge of the Dream Mountain enjoying the light beams shooting towards the sky emanating with elegance from the Dream Stone.**

 **After the next few days, Espie managed to master the powers of pure energy, showing demonstrations to Celestia. After Espie mastered how to utilize pure energy, Celestia taught her how to use the Energy Shield for defence and allowed Espie to practice for the remaining few days until it was time to return.**

" **We must return back to the sanctuary, Espie. You are ready. Reunite with your friends once more and then we would be advancing to the battle plans, got it?" "Absolutely, Celestia." Replied Espie confidently. "We should go. Since you did not learn the psychic skill variants that the other Spirit Elders taught your friends here because of the shortened time, I will teach you when we visit the Wizard Chambers." Celestia informed Espie.**

" **Wait! One last thing! Celestia, why did the Spirit Tree give you this power? Were you like me, unable to develop abilities?" Espie inquisitively queried. Celestia replied "Yes, definitely. I did not have any abilities and is always teased by my friends for not having any unique abilities other than climbing. But one of the days, when the Dark Spirits attacked me, they drain me of all my spirit energy as I was powerless to stop them. I was then revived using this light and meanwhile also gained my Spirit Flame ability to defend myself. It was then that I had decided to move here to grow my powers and teach them to spirits like you. Anyway, we should get going."**

 **Celestia and Espie were walking when they saw Teva, approaching from the path to the foot of the mountain. Espie shouted to Teva "Race you!" challenging Teva to a race back to the sanctuary.**

 **Celestia said to herself "Younglings… All those happy memories of the past." She sighed as she remembered her youthful self, playing with other spirits around the Spirit Tree. "Well, those two seems prepared. I'll see them there." She muttered while walking back to the sanctuary.**


	9. CHAPTER 9 (The Calm before the Storm)

**CHAPTER 9** **(The Calm before the Storm)**

 **The five reunited at the Dream Sanctuary along with the four Spirit Elders. Both groups started to chat about their training. One of the questions stood out of all the questions. "Where is Kezia? She is not here. Teva, any knowledge on this?" Celestia asked worriedly, concerned about her. "I do know where Kezia is. She is in the Dream Forest hut, preparing more medicine for the battle. She would come back three days before the eclipse. Don't worry about her." Teva's words lead Celestia to heave a huge sigh of relief, bursting all the worried bubbles of thoughts that she had.**

 **Next, Celestia instructed to the five "You five would be divided into three groups during battle, according to abilities. The Warriors of close combat, the Wizards of far-ranged combat and the Spirit healers. As you know, this would be important during the battle. Meet your designated groups and prepare strategies to take on the enemies you will be facing. Teva, you will be going into the Healing Circle, Sven to the Warrior Clan and Aura, Kayne to the Wizard Order. Espie, I will train you myself."**

 **The five having to split again agreed to meet there again after preparing with the mass groups, and with no hesitation, split into their assigned groups.**

 **While the others went to meet up with the three main groups, Espie was guided through a secret cavern path in the Wizard Chambers.**

" **Espie, this cave we call the Wizard Order chambers is more than just a meeting place for wizards, it holds treasures of massive powers. I would be giving you one to use and keep, it is called the Cube of Dimensions. This is able to transport you into different dimensions of space and time, allowing you to time travel, teleport to faraway places and cut through different dimensions.**

 **However, now it is kept here for safe-keeping as it also could be a threat to us Light Spirits if it lands in the wrong paws, like the leader of the Dark Spirits, known as 'the Shadow'. We will practice our skills for now."**

 **Celestia paused before continuing. "I will be teaching you all the rest of the psychic abilities. These skills consist of what your friends would learn. Of course, they only learned one or two, with an exception of psychic flight. For you, it's an exception as you are spiritually powerful from birth. I will teach you everything I know so that you might one day pass down the skills to other Light Spirits or use these skills when needed"**

 **Celestia taught Espie the rest of the psychic abilities that is not taught normally due to "the Shadow" incident when he stole power for evil. Espie learned the rest of the abilities, which she was told that these powers are not easy to learn for those who did not get the spirit light enhancements. They continued to learn in private, practicing skills such as teleportation and slowing down time for combat.**

 **Training in the three main group, their powers were put to the test as they were simulating the real battle by challenging each other in teams, strengthening bonds and teamwork.**

 **After having prepared for five days, the three leaders of the mass groups arrived at the battlefield and went to discuss while the three mass teams train with their different strategies, preparing all of themselves for the fight of their lives the next day.**


	10. CHAPTER 10 (The Battle of Dreams)

**CHAPTER 10** **(The Battle of Dreams)**

 **On the day of the eclipse, all of the spirits were prepared for their fight on the battlefield. As the moon shifted across the sun, darkness was creeping into the light as though it was the end of the world. A black portal suddenly appeared out of thin air and the Dark Spirit army started to charge at the light spirit army. "The Clash of Light and Dark has begun. Protect the Dream Valley at all costs. Your names would be on the pages of history!" Celestia shouted at the top of her voice. "All hail Lord Devious! We shall rule your world, with powers of the realms of the Nether" one of the Dark Spirits announced while the Shadow, or now known as Lord Devious arrived through a demonic portal.**

" **Devious, the Shadow is here. You should stick with me. We will start going after Lord Devious, and protect the stone of Dream Mountain." Celestia took Espie and started flying away, towards the Dream Mountain, attempting to intercept the Shadow and some of the Dark Spirits flying towards the mountain.**

 **The rest of both the armies continued fighting, warriors led by Cahal, punching and throwing rocks at the Dark Spirits while resisting the poundings of the Dark Spirits. The wizards, led by Misty and Hugo attacked using their telekinetic skills, lifting boulders just by using their minds and smashing them at the Dark Spirits, defeating most of the spirits. Kayne, leading the magicians on where to shot the boulders and rocks, calculated each angle precisely where the Dark Spirits travel, making the trajectory of each projectile hit the Dark Spirits more accurately. Those who could not do telekinesis, did mind-control led by Aura, making the Dark Spirits attack each other, fighting fire with fire.**

 **Some of the warriors and wizards were badly injured, most of them immediately healed by the Spirit Healers who flew around busily like a bee moving around flowers, just to heal them. The warriors and wizards were healed swiftly before they continued fighting for the Dream Valley.**

 **While the Clash of Light and Dark were underway, the Shadow and his minions landed on the Dream Mountain. "What a pity to the Light Spirits! I am going to rule all of the world." The Shadow spoke. "Stop right there! You would not get it without a fight" Celestia warned as they started to exchange blasts of intense energy, Espie near Celestia, shot energy orbs at all of the minions, hitting and dispelling the Dark Spirit minions. Espie watching Celestia fight wanted to help. However, Lord Devious, while firing spells, wickedly laughed as he used one paw to continue firing spells while using the other paw, seeming to summon something out of the air. "Argh!" Misty suddenly appeared out of thin air, controlled by Lord Devious.**

" **Misty, you worked under me before, you were dark before, why not join me again?" "Arrgh! No, not again!" Lord Devious started to corrupt her with darkness quickly, her eyes turning red, and fur turning into a greyish tint. The cries of her pain was silenced. "Yes master, your wish is my command." spoke the darkness influenced Misty, turned towards the approaching Espie, and starting to shoot dark energy beams at her.**

" **NO, IT CAN'T BE!" Celestia screamed as she saw the whole occurrence. "Misty! Nooo! Lord Devious, you malicious spirit!" Celestia continued to fight Lord Devious, buying time for Espie to try to help Misty snap out of the dark mind control.**

 **Espie didn't want to attack Misty, so she decided to use the Spirit Energy Shield ability she learned to block Misty's attack. Misty attacked continuously until she was drained of energy, falling out of the sky onto the Dream Mountain, drained of energy due to the evil mind control using up all her spirit energy.**

 **Celestia, seeing her long-time friends succumbing to the corruption of darkness, shot one of her most powerful shocks of energy at the Shadow in anger. Lord Devious, took the immense energy, and redirected the shock pulse infused with darkness, blasting Celestia onto the side of the mountain plateau, knocking her out instantly. Lord Devious, after spiking the attack, laughed wickedly, finally feeling victorious in defeating the spirit that tried to seal him up.**

 **Espie seeing her master being attacked and brutally injured, became furious and started to glow brightly. Her eyes were flowing with light, like fire in the eyes, which moved upwards. Her body glowed with a radiance of light, energy flowing from the source of her vindictive emotions. Espie felt powers that she never felt before, intensifying and surpassing her limits of her power, becoming the angelic looking Light Phoenix, the hope of all Light Spirits. Her transformation exploded with a spectrum of dazzling colours that flashed far distances and slowly dissipated.**

 **Espie fired immense waves of spirit energy, dodging dark energy blasts shot from Lord Devious. They flew around and continued blasting each other with energy, creating explosions in mid-air, all around the mountain. Espie teleported through the air, firing at strategic angles around Lord Devious.**

 **They were striking each other so furiously that it looked similar to fireworks.**

 **However, during the fight, Espie got shot on her back and got badly injured. Lord Devious, having made Espie exhausted and wounded, shot her out of the air using a Dark Burst, onto the edge of the mountain, close to the Dream Stone.**

 **Espie, getting up, feeling weakened, thought of one last plan to end the battle. As a last resort, she used up all her light on the Dream Stone, creating a tremendous flux of light energy from the mountain, annihilating Lord Devious and the rest of his dark army on the touch of light. Espie, being drained of all her powers after using it for the Dream Stone, collapsed in exhaustion, leaving her life to the paws of fate.**

 **When Espie opened her eyes, she saw all her friends and Celestia just beside her. "We won, my young spirit. Thanks to you, Lord Devious and his group has been vanquished, bringing back peace and light to all regions of the world." Celestia told Espie.**

" **When the healers and I saw you, you were lying on the ground just next to Celestia, very badly injured and drained of light. I seemed like you really had a tough fight. However, since we found you in time, we could restore your light by using the Spirit Blossoms and brought you back here to the sanctuary, together with Celestia. You were in some sort of coma for a few days! But fortunately, we had available healers, including me to help you, Espie." Teva informed her. "Celestia awoke a couple of days ago and was very concerned about you, waiting here for you to come around. She sat here ever since."**

" **W- Where is Misty? Is she still alive?" Espie spoke with a weakened voice, not knowing her condition. All of the spirits surrounding Espie's healing bed were silenced, Celestia expressing sombre on her face. Celestia teared and told Espie "Oh Espie, she did not make it. She was destroyed by the light. It is not your fault, just do not feel guilty about it. She was corrupted by the dark force like in the past and was destroyed by the light surge you have cast. There was nothing we could do, she disappeared in the light. Do not blame yourself. Rest and recover before you make your way back to the Spirit Tree."**

 **Espie felt guilty and saddened, contemplating ways to save Misty.**


	11. CHAPTER 11 (Time to Set Things Right)

**CHAPTER 11** **(Time to Things Right)**

 **Espie planning about how she could save Misty thought of an ingenious plan to save her. When Espie was feeling fit enough to move about, she escaped sneakily from the healing hut and ran towards the chambers of the Wizard Order, zipping through swiftly and stealthily towards the chamber that she once trained with Celestia. She remembered the words "time travel" that Celestia said about the Cube. Espie held the Cube in her paws and activated it using her rare psychic powers, the cube opening into four pyramid shaped corners and one circular core that glowed with light. "Take me to the time after I defeated Misty influenced with darkness." The Cube shone brightly and Espie went through the temporal spaces and appeared in front of Misty.**

 **She then carried Misty and brought her to an unexplored part of the forest close to the Valley. Espie started by transferring some of her light to purify and replenish Misty's spirit energy. After that, she tried to find the Spirit Blossom Teva was talking about earlier. Finding the Spirit Blossom, Espie crushed it into a juicy paste and poured it into Misty's mouth to try to resurrect her.**

 **Upon waking up, Misty saw Espie's face, groaning from pain. Misty's waking turned Espie's depressed frown into a joyous smile. "You are alive!" Espie hugged Misty. "What happened to me?" "It's a long story, Misty. But I managed to save you" Espie told Misty about how she was possessed by Lord Devious and fell from the skies, then was thought to have disappeared, then was brought here to be helped by Espie's future self. "So somehow I 'disappeared' when you brought me here? And you are from the future? You must have used the Dimensional Cube so that you could get here." "Yes, I did use it. But I must get back, do you want to come with me, back to my timeline I came from?"**

 **Misty nodded while eating some of the fruits Espie collected for her, trying to regain strength. "There's no rush Misty, I have taken care of the Dark Spirits." Espie reassured Misty, slowing down her rushed consumption. "You see the light coming from the Dream Mountain right now? That was the past me in this time period, using up my energy to defeat the Dark Spirits."**

 **After Misty ate and drank to replenish her energy, she was ready to go. Espie opened the Cube with her powers and commanded to it "bring me back to the space and time, where and when I used this Cube." Misty held Espie's paw and flew through time and space, back into the chambers, where Celestia and the other four were waiting anxiously, with worried expressions.**

 **Appearing in a big burst of light, Espie appeared together with Misty, startling Celestia and the four. "Misty?" Celestia stood rooted in disbelief. "MISTY! The Spirit Elders thought you perished, Misty" Celestia hugged Misty. "Celestia, I went back in time and help to save Misty, then returned here with her. It was what I needed to do to make things right."**

 **"Thank you, Espie! Thank you for bringing Misty back." Celestia showed her humble gratitude to Espie.**

 **They chatted with each other and then eventually headed to the Dream Sanctuary.**

 **After returning to the sanctuary, the five packed up and said their goodbyes to all of the Elder Spirits. "Visit anytime you please. Use the Cube to return to the Spirit Tree or also use it to travel here to visit us. Keep it and use your power for good, Espie. See you all" Celestia waved goodbye and the five held paws, ready to be instantaneously teleported.**


	12. CHAPTER 12 (Back to the Spirit Tree)

**CHAPTER 12** **(Back to the Spirit Tree)**

 **The five zapped and arrived at the base of the Spirit Tree. "Welcome back Espie, I know that you have helped a lot, well done on defeating the Shadow. We have prepared a celebration for you and your friends on this delightful ceremony." Said Ori, praising the five on their success.**

 **The light spirits cavorted and surrounded the five, putting a flowery necklace on each and every one of the five, signifying their thanks towards them. They were brought to a wooden dining table near the Spirit Tree and were given fruits, berries, and rare teas. "Today, we shall celebrate the end of darkness from this world and the work of all the five Lights Spirits who helped save the world from darkness." Ori announced to all of the Light Spirits sitting around the dining table with food laid in front of them.**

 **They revelled below the lights of the Spirit Tree until Ori spoke once again. "Raise your cups and celebrate the victory of the five." All the spirits raised their cups almost immediately, including the five.**

" **Aura the sense of the forest, Sven the muscle of the forest, Kayne the wisdom of the forest, Teva the miracle spirit healer of the forest and last but not least, Espie guardian of hope. Let's celebrate the success of these valiant heroes!"**

 **After celebrating, the five decided to become Elder Spirit Guardians like Ori whom stayed around the Spirit Tree. They started teaching younger spirits their skills and guiding them in any circumstances that there is conflict. Espie gave power to those who did not possess any special abilities and continued to teach psychic powers to spirits who were interested or enthusiastic to learn the skill which was challenging to some.**

 **One of the days while Espie was teaching, a dark figure streaked past Espie. Espie recalled a Dark Spirit spy at the River of Life, but she did not bother to pursue the lone Dark Spirit since most of the Dark Spirits have been wiped out.**

 **After finding an apprentice to take over her teaching, Espie looked at the Cube in her paws and wondered "Where should I find adventure next?"**

 **Espie stared out into the sky, glaring at the deep and infinite Universe where all of the tiny spirits are almost insignificant to the massive realms of space, imagining the endless world of parallel dimensions that she might one day go to.**

 **[The Story continues in Espie's Dimensional Adventures – ES2.1 MLP]**


End file.
